AGL 38.20 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.13%)
AIRLINK 129.30 Increased By ▲ 4.23 (3.38%)
BOP 7.85 Increased By ▲ 1.00 (14.6%)
CNERGY 4.66 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (4.72%)
DCL 8.35 Increased By ▲ 0.44 (5.56%)
DFML 38.86 Increased By ▲ 1.52 (4.07%)
DGKC 82.20 Increased By ▲ 4.43 (5.7%)
FCCL 33.64 Increased By ▲ 3.06 (10.01%)
FFBL 75.75 Increased By ▲ 6.89 (10.01%)
FFL 12.83 Increased By ▲ 0.97 (8.18%)
HUBC 110.72 Increased By ▲ 6.22 (5.95%)
HUMNL 14.03 Increased By ▲ 0.54 (4%)
KEL 5.22 Increased By ▲ 0.57 (12.26%)
KOSM 7.69 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (7.25%)
MLCF 40.08 Increased By ▲ 3.64 (9.99%)
NBP 72.51 Increased By ▲ 6.59 (10%)
OGDC 189.18 Increased By ▲ 9.65 (5.38%)
PAEL 25.74 Increased By ▲ 1.31 (5.36%)
PIBTL 7.38 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (3.22%)
PPL 153.45 Increased By ▲ 9.75 (6.78%)
PRL 25.52 Increased By ▲ 1.20 (4.93%)
PTC 17.92 Increased By ▲ 1.52 (9.27%)
SEARL 82.50 Increased By ▲ 3.93 (5%)
TELE 7.63 Increased By ▲ 0.41 (5.68%)
TOMCL 32.50 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (1.66%)
TPLP 8.48 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (4.31%)
TREET 16.74 Increased By ▲ 0.61 (3.78%)
TRG 56.01 Increased By ▲ 1.35 (2.47%)
UNITY 28.85 Increased By ▲ 1.35 (4.91%)
WTL 1.34 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (3.88%)
BR100 10,659 Increased By 569.2 (5.64%)
BR30 31,331 Increased By 1822.5 (6.18%)
KSE100 99,269 Increased By 4695.1 (4.96%)
KSE30 31,032 Increased By 1587.6 (5.39%)

imageNEW YORK: The S&P 500 on Wednesday closed at a new record high after strong Apple earnings lifted the tech sector on a mixed day for stocks.

The S&P 500 added 3.48 points (0.18 percent) at 1,987.01, breaching a record set three weeks ago by about three points.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 26.91 (0.16 percent) to 17,086.63, dragged down by a hefty fall by Boeing.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 17.68 (0.40 percent) to 4,473.70.

"There's less talk of geopolitical concerns, whether it be in Gaza or Ukraine, and more discussion of fundamentals," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.

"On balance, earnings have been better than expected." Apple, the biggest publicly traded company in the US, gained 2.6 percent on the Nasdaq as profits for its fiscal third quarter rose 11.6 percent to $7.7 billion due to strong demand for iPhones, particularly in China.

Boeing dropped 2.3 percent, the biggest Dow decliner, despite reporting second-quarter earnings that bested expectations by a wide margin and raising its full-year profit outlook. Analysts were troubled by a $272 million after-tax charge for a US Air Force tanker contract.

Caterpillar, another Dow component, lost 1.5 percent as it disclosed lower industrial machine sales for the last three months. The biggest declines came in the resources sector, which fell 49 percent in April and 38 percent in June. Caterpillar is to report quarterly earnings Thursday before the equities markets open.

PepsiCo rose 1.9 percent as second-quarter earnings of $1.32 per share bested analyst expectations by nine cents and the beverage company raised its full-year profit forecast.

Other companies that reported earnings included Biogen (+11.2 percent), Delta Air Lines (+3.9 percent), Dow Chemical (+3.0 percent), Freeport-McMoRan (-0.4 percent), Northrop Grumman (+0.1 percent), Weatherford International (+1.7 percent) and Whirlpool (+1.4 percent).

In non-earnings news, Puma Biotechnology bolted 295.4 percent higher to $233.43 after a trial of its neratinib treatment for breast cancer resulted in a 33 percent improvement in disease-free survival of the survey population. The company plans to file for regulatory approval for the medication in the first half of 2015.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.46 percent from 2.47 percent Tuesday, while the 30-year held rose to 3.26 percent from 3.25 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

Comments

Comments are closed.